Family Reunited with Pet Turtle After Almost 2 Years

By Sara Tan May 14th 2012

When the Cody family adopted Katrina the turtle, they had no idea they would grow so attached to her. According to WECT, the entire family was smitten with Katrina. She slept in bed with the kids, claimed the backyard as her abode and even became the family's go-kart racing team mascot. But on one fateful day in 2010, while the Cody kids were hanging out in the yard with Katrina, she escaped.


"Coleton was playing with her watching her real close and he got distracted by something, and he turned around and she was gone," said Coleton's father, Eric Cody. The family was devastated. They spent months searching high and low for their beloved pet.

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The Codys had to move on from their loss eventually, and they relocated to a new house in Troutman, N.C. But after the family had given up all hope of ever finding Katrina, the unimaginable happened. 19 months after Katrina went missing, a Hickory Parks worker named Trish Passman found a turtle hanging out in a parking lot. She picked up the creature and saw a dog tag hanging from the back of her shell.

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"It was a heart-shaped dog collar and I saw the name said Katrina but I couldn't get it scraped off good," said Passman.

Passman was able to read the number and made a call to the Codys. She left a message saying she found a turtle with a dog tag on it. Delighted and excited, Eric told the kids to get in the car for a trip to Hickory to pick up some parts for their race team.

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As soon as the Codys arrived at Passman's home, daughter Allison lit up with joy. "I went over there and picked her up and looked at her and I said, 'Yeah! It's Katrina!'"

Katrina the turtle is now safe and sound at her new home with the Codys. However, she's no longer allowed to wander in the backyard unaccompanied.